The ancestry of the game can be traced to 200 bc during the Han dynasty in China. Their game was called Tsu Chu (Tsu means roughly “to kick”, while Chu denotes a ball made of stuffed leather). Chinese emperors themselves took part. In the 7th century the Japanese had a form of football called kemari. In 14th-century Florence there was the game calcio (giuoco del calcio, “game of the kick”), which was played 27-a-side with 6 umpires. This game allowed the use of hands as well as feet.

It is not until the 12th century that we find evidence of some form of football being played in England. Various forms of it were known in the Middle Ages. Basically, this was mob football that took place between rival factions and groups in towns and cities, and also between villages and parishes. Very large numbers of players took part and the goals might be a mile or more apart. Such games, which were often violent and dangerous, came to be particularly associated with Shrovetide and came to be called Shrovetide Football. Forms of this survived in England until well into the 20th century. Royal edicts by a succession of English kings failed to suppress mob football. In fact, such games flourished in the Tudor and Stuart periods. Oliver Cromwell managed to put a stop to them, but with the Restoration and the reign of Charles II it was soon revived. In the 18th century it was popular in English public schools but still involved scores of players on each side. A few public schools developed more organized forms and these have survived at Eton (Eton Wall Game, Eton Field Game), Harrow (Harrow Football), and Winchester (Winchester Football).